So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Toledo ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Toledo area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Toledo proper, although Ottawa Hills certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Toledo are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado…

We examined the 24 biggest suburbs of Toledo to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Ohio lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Toledo in terms of quality of life.

Editor’s Note: If you see a slight difference between the worst in state rankings and this suburb ranking, it’s because of the methodology. We needed a way to include more places, so we eliminated crime and commute times as criteria for this analysis.

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Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Toledo for 2018

To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 24 suburbs to evaluate around Toledo.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 24 in each category, where 1 was the ‘worst’.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index the ‘Worst Suburb near Toledo.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Adrian.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.

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1. Adrian

Source: Public Domain

Population: 20,800 Unemployment Rate: 11.1%Median Home Price: $69,300Median Income: $33,921
We’ll get the ball rolling with Adrian, the absolute worst place to live around Toledo according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Adrian beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the Toledo area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 1st worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Adrian.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area, there aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

2. Dundee

This city is 21.2 miles to Toledo. Income levels here are the 5th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $44,788 a year, which doesn’t go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

3. Gibsonburg

Population: 2,717 Unemployment Rate: 5.9%Median Home Price: $90,700Median Income: $50,761
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Toledo suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Gibsonburg on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school drop out rate is poor compared to other Toledo suburbs.

But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.

4. Monroe

Population: 20,243Unemployment Rate: 9.4%Median Home Price: $105,700Median Income: $45,055
If you live in Monroe, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 6th lowest Toledo suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 3rd worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Toledo. Remember, we looked at 24 cities for this study.

5. Wauseon

Population: 7,059Unemployment Rate: 5.7%Median Home Price: $119,100Median Income: $48,750
Wauseon has the distinction of being a Toledo suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Wauseon has the 11th lowest home values in the metro Toledo area, where the median price is $119,100. To put that into perspective, in Ottawa Hills, the median income is $118,700, which is the best in the area.

Wauseon has an unemployment rate of 5.7% which ranks 12th worst.

6. Northwood

Population: 5,337Unemployment Rate: 9.5%Median Home Price: $108,300Median Income: $57,488
Northwood has 5,337 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom and the poverty rate sits at 7.6%.

7. Blissfield

Source: Public Domain

Population: 3,200 Unemployment Rate: 7.5%Median Home Price: $97,700Median Income: $48,026
Ah, Blissfield. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Toledo.

It’s the place with the 7th most out of work residents in the Toledo metro area (7.5%).

8. Genoa

Population: 2,352Unemployment Rate: 5.0%Median Home Price: $98,800Median Income: $53,169
Genoa is a city about 15.1 miles from Toledo, but Toledo probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard pressed to find a worse place to live. Genoa has the 5th most uninsured people, 14th worst incomes, and has the 14th highest unemployment rate (5.0%) in the entire Toledo metro area.

Homes only cost $98,800 for a reason. That’s cheap for Toledo standards.

9. Carleton

Source: Public Domain

Population: 2,352 Unemployment Rate: 6.3%Median Home Price: $94,300Median Income: $50,972
If you absolutely have to live near Toledo, then Carleton might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Toledo suburb.